Shane Wright is cold as ice, stares down Habs draft table after being selected 4th overall by Seattle
There was a lot of speculation about who would go number one in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. For several years, the consensus number one was Shane Wright, but a late push from Juraj Slafkovsky, which included the recency bias of a solid showing at the Olympics, led to the big Slovak going 1st overall, much to the displeasure of Wright.
What was really strange about the pick was that for months, the build up to the draft was all about "pain for Shane" and upon arrival at the Bell Centre for the draft, Shane Wright was met with cheers, while Slafkovsky was not welcomed nearly as warmly. Still, despite the obvious favouritism for Wright among the crowd, Habs GM Kent Hughes did not waver and went ahead as planned with the Slafkovksy pick.
Much to the surprise of literally everyone in the hockey community, we watched 2 additional picks go by, while Shane Wright sat in disgust and disbelief that he had slipped past the #3 spot, with Simon Nemec going to New Jersey at 2 and Logan Cooley going to Arizona at #3.
Finally, Wright's turn came, as a bewildered Ron Francis and Seattle Kraken crew did not look a gift horse in the mouth, proudly selecting the best 200-foot player in the draft with ear-to-ear smiles on their faces.
While Wright also wore a smile on his way up to the stage to shake hands with Commissioner Gary Bettman, there was a brief moment where that smile vanished and he appeared to stare daggers at the Habs' table, front and center on the draft floor.
From the perspective of a Leafs fan, it was hilarious to watch this player:
Go before THIS player:
To be fair to Wright, spending as much time as he did as the consensus number one and to have had so many meetings and conversations with the Habs leading up to the draft, it had to be a bit of a shock for them to pass on him. You almost wonder what was said from the team to the player to give him false hope.
I know one thing for sure, I would not want to be a Habs fan when they play Seattle, because you know that's a game Shane Wright is going to have circled on his calendar for months.
